Loose-leaf binder



March 2 1926. 1,574,992

H. C. MILLER LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Jan. 18, 192-4 1 3 Sheets-Sheet 1F2 g-J- /6 g5 26 1 I INVENTOR.

. ATTORNEYS March 2 1926. 1,574,992

H. c. MILLER LOOSE LEAF BINDER Filed Jan. 8, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 9 ATORNEYS March 2 1926. 1,574,992

H. c. MIL ER munlgllmiililllimmiummimTldllllllllIlllIlllllllllflljfllllllllm A TORNEYS Patented Mar. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES HENRY C. MILLER, OF MILWAUKEE, \VISCONSIN;

LOOSE-LEAF BINDER.

Application filed January 18, 1924. Serial no. 687,068.

T 0 all whom it may cancer-'21 Be it known that I, HENRY C. MILLER, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Milwaukee, in the countyof Milwaukee and State of \Visconsln, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Loose-Leaf Binders, of which the following is adescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which area part of this specification.

This invention relates to loose leaf binders, and particularly to thattype of binders in which the leaves are removably secured between sidecovers which are adjustably connected together for securely clamping theleaves therebetween.

In binders of this type it is customary to provide binding posts whichwhen properly adjusted co-operate with notches in the leaves for lockingthe leaves in place, these binding posts being operable separately fromthe adjustable covers, thereby necessitating two separate actions inlooking the leaves in the binder.

It is the particular object of this invention to provide a constructionembodying in general all of the advantageous and standard structuralfeatures of known loose leaf binders, but providing in addition meanswhereby the expansible cover and the leaf-locking means may besimultaneously actuated.

\Vith this in mind, the invention consists in the novel combination,construction and arrangement of parts, all as will be made moreapparenthereinafter, as the description proceeds, especially whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1is a fragmentary side elevation,

partly in section, of a loose leaf binder, constructed in accordancewith this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the back of the device, with certainvpartsremoved for purposes of illustration;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the back ofthe binder;

Fig. 1 is an enlarged sectional view, taken substantially on the planeindicated by the line 4-4 in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view,

taken substantially on the plane indicated by the line 5-5 in Fig. 4:,on a substantially larger scale;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail view, illustrating the binding postlocking means;

Fig. 7 is a top plan view of the back of the binder showing anadditional feature;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the plane indicatedby the line 8-8 in Fig. 7 with the posts omitted; and,

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary detail sectional view, taken substantially onthe plane indi cated by the line 9--9 in Fig. 8.

Referring now to the drawings wherein "like reference charactersindicate like parts, it will be noted that the binder consists of a pairof covers 10, which are hingedly connected, as at 11, to the back 12.The back is formed in two sections 13, which are movable toward and awayfrom each other, whereby the leaves may be clamped between the halves ofthe binder in the usual manner.

The two back sections 13 are connected by toggle levers 14, pivoted atone end, as at 15, to the l sick sections and adjustably con nected atthe other end to the back sections, by means of pin and slot connections16.

Secured to one end of one of the toggle levers let is a nut 17, whichhas a threaded engagement with an operating rod in the form of a shaft18, revolubly supported within the back by any suit-able supports, suchas shown at 19. The squared end 20 of the operating shaft is arrangedadjacent one end of the binder, whereby it may be engaged by a key 2.1,for revolving this shaft 18. The portions of the shaft 18 extendingthrough the bearings 19 are reduced in diameter to form shoulders 19'for preventing endwise movement of said shaft.

Each back section is provided with a plurality of binder posts 21, theopposed binder posts of the back sections interengaging in telescopicrelation. The two outer binder posts are preferably fixed, while the twoinner binder posts 21 are mounted so as to rotate relatively to the backsections. These binder posts are preferably oval-shaped in cross-sectionand are rotated for interlocking with notches arranged in the edge ofthe sheets to be contained within the binder.

Each of the binder posts is provided with a serrated or toothed surface22, which will 1 be engaged by the leaves when the binder is standing onits back, whereby the leaves may be loosely positioned upon the binderposts atone side or the other to permit the easy removal or insertion ofadditional leaves therebetween. It is obvious that the serrate-dsurfaces of the center binder posts will, during the unlocked conditionof the binder, be positioned upwardly, similar to the two outer posts,as shown in Fig. 2.

Mounted upon one end of each of the inner posts 21 is a pinion 23, whichis adapted to mesh with groups or sections of teeth 24, arranged along arack bar 25. The number of teeth is so selected that when the rack baris longitudinally displaced, the engagement of the teeth 24 with thepinions 23, will cause the binder posts to make a one quarter turn, atwhich time the rack bar 25 will have travelled to such an extent as tomove the teeth 2% past the pinions 23.

For locking the binder posts in their ad justed positions there isprovided a lOCKlIlg bar 26, provided with a plurality of suitably spacedcut-away portions 27, between which are locking surfaces 28 whichcooperate with locking heads 29, secured to the ends of the binder postsadjacent to the pinions 23, these locking heads being formed withflattened or slabbed surfaces 30.

The rack bar 25 is rigidly connected to the locking bar 26, and bothbars are operated by the projection 31 of the nut 17 which extends intothe recess of the bar 25. Thus as the two bars, 25 and 26, arelongitudinally displaced, the center binder posts will first be causedto rotate a one quarter turn, whereupon the flattened surface of thehead 29 of each of the binder posts, will come into engagement with thestraight locking edge 28 of the bar 26, whereupon additional accidentalrotation of the binder posts will be prevented.

The locking surfaces 28 of the locking bar 26 are so positioned withrelation to the recessed portions 27, that immediately after the lasttooth of the toothed sections 24 leaves the binder post pinion 23, thelocking portion 30 of the head 29 will rest upon the locking portion 28of the bar 26, so that the bar 26, as well as the rack bar 25, cancontinue its movement in opening and closing the back sections, whilethe revolvable posts are maintained immovable in their adjustedposition.

By reference to Fig. 7, it will be noted that cover sections 31 areprovided which are mounted upon the back sections for movementtherewith, and are adapted to enclose the operating mechanismcontrolling the back and the binder posts. These cover plates arepreferably formed with a plurality of alternately arranged offsets 82,which cooperate with a similar number of offsets on the other platesection, thus producing a flat surface, which may be engaged by theinner edges of the leaves. As shown in Fig. 1, separate angular members33 may be provided against which the covers rest and which are adaptedto support the covers 10 in open position, whereupon the leaves may beconveniently inserted or withdrawn. The inner ends of the angularmembers are provided with grooved heads 34; which extend throughopenings 35 in the cover and are secured thereto in any manner desired,for instance by slotted bars 36 which engage the grooves of the heads.In Fig. 3, it will be noted that the outer binder posts are providedwith headed portions 3%, flattened at the lower side thereof, but theseheaded port-ions do not perform any function save that of assisting inguiding the longitudinally displaceable bars 25 and 26.

From the foregoing it will be immediately apparent that upon rotation ofthe shaft 18 by means of the key 21, the toggle levers 1t will beoperated to move the back sections 13 away from one another for openingthe binder. \Vhen the back portions and covers have been moved to almostthe extent of their open position, the pinions 23 carried by the middlebinder posts will be engaged by the rack teeth 24, and rotated a quarterof a turn, whereupon the leaves will be unlocked and easily removable.Obviously the binder posts will be maintained positively in lockedposition except during the period of rotation by the rack teeth by meansof the cooperating locking surfaces formed on the locking bar 26 and theheads 29. In locking the binder the first rotation of the shaft 18 willcause the locking posts to be turned a quarter turn back to lockingposition and at the same time draw the back sections together, and upona further rotation of the shaft 18, the toggle levers 14% will befurther actuated for drawing the back sections together to tightly clampthe leaves therebetween. Thus the entire operation accomplished by theuse of a single key.

While an embodiment of this invention has been described and illustratedherein in some detail, it is not intended that the invention beunnecessarily limited but reservation is made to make such changes inthe details of construction and combination and arran ements of parts aswill come within the purview of the accompanying claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a loose leaf binder, an extensible back, revolvable binding postsand means for simultaneously adjusting Said back and revolving saidbinding posts.

2. A loose leaf binder comprising a sectional extensible back,revolvable binding posts carried by said back and means opera tivelyconnected to said back sections and binding post-s for simultaneouslyadjusting said back and rotating said binding posts.

3. In a loose leaf binder, a back including extensible back members,revolvable binding posts carried by said back members, a keyrotatedoperating shaft and means connected to said shaft for simultaneouslyadjusting said back and rotating said binding posts.

4. In a loose leaf binder, an extensible back including a pair of backsections and toggle lever means connected to said sections, revolvablebinding posts carried by said sections and means operatively connectedto said toggle lever and to said binding posts for simultaneouslyadjusting said back and rotating said binding posts.

5. In a loose leaf binder, an extensible back, rotatable binding postscarried by said back, means for adjusting said back and rotating saidbinding posts and means for locking said binding posts in their adjustedpositions.

6. In a loose leaf binder, an extensible back, binding posts carried bysaid back, rack and pinion means for rotating said binding posts andmeans for adjusting said back and simultaneously actuating the rack ofsaid rack and pinion means.

7. A loose leaf binder comprising a back portion including a pair ofextensible back members, rotatable binding posts carried by said backmembers, means for rotating said posts and means operable With saidbinding post operating means and functioning at the completion of therotation of said binding posts for locking said binding posts in theiradjusted positions.

8. A loose leaf binder comprising a back portion including a pair ofback sections extensibly connected together, revolvable binding postscarried by said back sections, an operating rod and meansconnecting saidoperating rod to said binding posts and to said extensible back membersfor simultaneoulsy adjusting said back members and rotating said bindingposts.

9. A loose leaf binder comprising an extensible back, rotatable bindingposts, binding post locking means and a unitary means for simultaneouslyadjusting said back, rotating saidbinding posts and operating saidbindin post locking means.

10. A loose leaf binder comprising a back, binding posts carried by saidback, pinions on said binding posts, a longitudinally displaceable rackbar for engagement With said pinions, an operating rod for actuatingsaid rack bar and a locking bar co-operating with a locking head on saidbinding posts for locking said posts in their adjusted positions.

11. A loose leaf binder comprising a back, binding posts carried by saidback, pinions on said binding posts, a longitudinally displaceable rackbar provided with spaced groups of teeth for engagement with saidpinions, an operating rod for actuating said rack bar, a. locking barmovable with said rack bar and provided with locking surfaces and alocking head secured to said binding posts and co-operating with saidlocking bar for securing said binding posts in their adjusted positions.

in testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

HENRY C. MILLER.

